Prime Bank signs MoU with icddr,b to tackle TB deaths

Prime Bank PLC has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), a leading global health research institute, to strengthen lifesaving tuberculosis (TB) interventions in Sylhet.

Hassan O Rashid, chief executive officer of Prime Bank PLC, and Tahmeed Ahmed, executive director of icddr,b, signed the MoU at the bank's corporate office in the capital's Gulshan, according to a press release.

Under the MoU, Prime Bank will provide funding support for the continuation of TB screening and treatment services at icddr,b's Sylhet TB Screening and Treatment Centre (TBSTC) for one year.

Icddr,b has long been a key national partner in the fight against TB, having screened more than 52 million people between 2020 and 2024, identifying over 148,000 TB cases, including 18,000 children, and facilitating treatment for more than 5,500 drug-resistant TB patients.

In the past two to three years, the country has witnessed alarming mortality rates, with 44,000 TB-related deaths recorded in 2023 alone, which is equivalent to one every 12 minutes, the press release added.